Well it probably wasn’t the best time to come out as trans in this country but as they say,”too late now.”

It’s been a little over five years since I began this journey and what a journey it has been. I began as most trans people do, without a clue as to what was coming. Yet the excitement as the changes began to take place coupled with what could only be a profound dose ignorance kept me moving forward. Toward the goal, nothing else mattered.

Onward, the accomplishments began to add up, living full time, out to everyone in my circle. Name change, gender marker change, change licenses, passport, birth certificate. Then with the list growing shorter came a bit of time that allowed me to breathe and ponder what exactly my new life was going to look like.

If I had been twenty years old things definitely would have looked a great deal different but facts are facts. The fact is that I did not started transitioning until I was almost sixty years old. In my mind I knew or thought I knew that I would never pass, that everyone would know from the moment they met me that I was a transgender woman. Oh well,in that case I might as well make the most of it. So it is that I have spent the last couple of years on a one woman crusade to be sure that anyone that sat down next to me left with the ability to say that that they had met a trans person.

This is incredibly important as the statistics say that 70% of the people in this country say that they have never met a trans person. So I decided that if they were going to see me anyway, I would do my part for those that were coming after me. It sounds so noble when I read that, but I have found that people like me and I like talking to people. I”m open and honest and with what I have been through you can not embarrass me, so go ahead and ask your questions. Taken together this leads me to an obvious plan of action.

I will speak up, speak out, stand up, be vocal, and above all be visible.

I’ll let you know how that works out.